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The Doublesiege
The Doublesiege (CC: 33/2/1,858 - CC: 04/3/1,858) was an important event at the beginning of Aye the Queen's War for Conquest. It was at first a three-week-long siege of Thousandtrees' Town by the Ayish Army, which itself became besieged by Telf. This was resolved by Aye the Queen's conversion to the Faith of the Shadow & the Shine. History Sowing the Seeds: Aye the Queen set her sights on the Great Emperor of the Forest Ulkos III Laochalk, also known as Great Emperor Thousandrapes. His capital of Thousandtrees' Town was the most-powerful city of the Far West, and if it fell, so would the rest of the country. Aye visited Ulkos, leading him to believed that she would reform the Deylki to be more Farwestern if he would simply bribe her. Aye had been educated in acting, and was able to lie convincingly to the Emperor. She was given two years to accomplish this goal, as well 9,216 木 (currently equivalent to 85,000,000 Я). Instead, she armed the Deylki, and her allies with this money, sacrificing much of it in order to conceal the weapons from the Farwesterners. The final stage of her plan involved planting moles within the armies of the Great Emperor of the Stone, and the Great Emperor of the Forest; the weakest of the Emperors, and the strongest of the Emperors respectively. Most-importantly, Jaumai was to weaken the morale of the Imperial Stone Army, while also gaining the trust of its leader, the Great Emperor of the Stone [[Mulket Gayush|Mulket Gaha Gayush]]. Jaumai joined the Imperial Stone Army under the pretense that Aye was complying with Ulkos. Jaumai was immediately promoted to the rank of captain, as he was a noble. Jaumai found from his subordinate, Jayma, that the morale of the Imperial Stone Army was already quite weak. The army was made up mostly of forcibly-conscripted soldiers, most of whom were from the nearwestern Subjects of the Far West such as Deylk, Heylk, Cubenn Isle, etc,. The Great Emperor, as it turned out, was a boyfucker, then-seen as a most-grievous sin, especially by the nearwesterners. Mulket kept this secret, but rumors spread that the Great Emperor had just separated from a former captain, Alalk Protolkosh. Alalk Protolkosh was described as tall, olive-skinned, black-haired, blue-eyed, and incredibly violent. Jaumai matched this description perfectly, and he devised a plan to get closer to the Great Emperor. Jaumai, just like all the other captains, had to meet with Mulket roughly once a week. As a noble, Jaumai, sat very close to the Great Emperor, and being close in age to him, was able to befriend him by being a yes-man, and agreeing with everything he said. He seduced the young Great Emperor, all the while befriending the other soldiers, and distancing himself from the other captains, fostering mistrust in them with their subordinates. When the time was right, he began to organize a coup. He exposed Mulket to the Imperial Stone Army, and then flayed him alive, going on to wear Mulket's skin as a cloak. Jayma is said to have sown it. This ended the line of the Great Emperors of the Stone, which had been in sharp decline since the failed attempt to invade Telf by Laklol, who was burned alive by the Telfish. Most of the soldiers were more leal to Jaumai's family than to Mulket, and elected to follow him instead of the captains they mistrusted. Jaumai killed every single captain, including Alalk, who he raped to death while wearing Mulket's skin. Jaumai stole the Imperial Stone Army, making off with it to sack Thousandtrees. Ulkos noted that the 2nd anniversary of his agreement with Aye, on CC: 14/2/1,856 had come and gone. Ulkos was not a man to cross (being famed for his sadistic tendencies, rapes, and murders), and so he sent forth the 3rd Branch of the Imperial Forest Army to de-body Aye. Her moles warned her about the coming force, so she mobilized the Deylki, and led them around the Imperial Tree Army. When the Emperor's forces arrived in Hocktonne, Deylk's capital, they were met with a ghost town. Receiving word of the oncoming army, Hocktonne was evacuated, and its surrounding mountains were used to hide the Heylki, and Cubenner armies. The armies made themselves known, and told the 3rd Branch they were surrounded. When the direness of the situation became apparent to the 3rd Branch, the nearwesterners offered them the choice to lay down their arms, join Aye the Queen, and live. Most elected to die honorably, something the nearwesterners respected, but many joined Aye's cause, something the nearwesterners benefited from (this is where the phrase 3rd Brancher, equivalent to a quisling or a Benedict Arnold, comes from). The army of Deylki, Heylki, Cubenners, and Farwesterners then made for Thousandtrees. The Doublesiege: March to Thousandtrees: Aye the Queen's forces met up with Jaumai's forces in Cronenn's Crop, a river valley between the River Line, and the River Zolmal. They made north for Thousandtrees, planting beans on their way north (on Jayma's suggestion as a provision in case their plans were prolonged), and besieging the Imperial Capital on arrival. The 3rd Branchers, who were quite familiar with the layout of Thousandtrees advised the Queen on where to march on the city. Her army forded the River Roots in the night, and approached the city from the northwest, under the shadow of Laochalk, the monstrously-large redwood which was the namesake of the Imperial Family of Thousandtrees, the Imperial Palace of Thousandtrees, and the walled-capital city of Thousandtrees' Town. This gave her the element of surprise, and prevented Ulkos from mobilizing his men, lest he open the city's gates, and allow her entry. The Queen was inexperienced enough to believe that the siege would be easy, but her force was only barely larger than the forces within the city, and soon enough, the other Imperial Armies were likely to show up, and destroy her. Three weeks into the siege, a Telfish army surrounded Aye's forces in the night. The Telfish forces were much smaller than Aye's forces, so the Queen would be able to break their siege, but probably not without letting Thousandtrees mobilize on her army. She decided that her best course of action was to have them join her cause. Aye had a great understanding of Telfish culture, and knew that unless she converted to the Faith of the Shadow & the Shine, the Telfish would never join her. So she did. Skinbrothering: Aye the Queen murdered her own brother, presenting his corpse as an olive branch to the High Grey of Telf. Jaumai and the Queen had feuded because of Mulket's skincloak, which Aye believed to be an abomination. She stuffed it down his throat while Jayma held him down. This was the first skinbrothering. Jaumai would be remembered as Jaumai the Skinbrother. Aye the Queen met with the High Grey of Telf, and presented him with Jaumai's corpse, saying: "Geld the corpse if you want. I know you love doing that to foreigners. I do not mean to conquer you. I mean to rule you, and I mean to be ruled by you. I will be a Sana*, and wear a sangahalk, and breed the sons of Rolk-Nostoi*, and if you lend me your strength, I will take your god. THE ONLY GOD THAT MATTERS, I've heard you say of Him. I will force Rolk-Sanulk* to take Him. I will force all of Sanolk* to take our god. I will shove our god down Garlenn's throat. Calthoss, like Mulket's skin here, will choke the life away from all who dare to oppose me... All who dare oppose us... All of them will die. I will do as you do to foreigners. Lend me your strength, and all these things will happen. If you do not lend me an army. I will not take the Shadow. I will not conquer in His name. But, I promise you... only I will leave this battlefield alive." — Aye the Queen, CC: 04/3/1,858 * * Great Empress, literally "Great Woman" * ** Thousandrapes * *** Thousandtrees * **** The Far West, literally "Great Land" The High Grey was impressed by what he judged to be devotion to his god, and lended blachumor (an extremely potent incendiary often used in fire magicks) to Aye the Queen. Sack of Thousandtrees: That night, the Ayish Army blew open the gates of Thousandtrees' Town, and took the city. Bloodshed was kept to a minimum, and most of the soldiers were used to break into the Imperial Palace of Thousandtrees. The Queen, and the Emperor found themselves in a one on one fight at the base of Laochalk. Ulkos won by cutting off Aye's right arm. Before he could deliver the finishing blow, however, the Great Emperor was speared right through the heart by Jayma. Thousandtrees was taken. Imperial Prince Alkos Laochalk, Ulkos' oldest son, was brought to Aye the Queen just hours later, and the two were married over Jaumai's corpse by the High Grey of Telf. The High Grey crowned her with a Wreath of Olive Branches, a symbol of the Shine, and proclaimed Aye the Queen of the Near West, and Telf, and Great Empress of the Stone, and the Forest. During the ceremony, Alkos was forced to carry his father's body to Aye so that, in Aye's words "your dad'll give you to me like a little bride." ' (Nearwestern Flag)|link=http://tale-of-zul.wikia.com/wiki/File:Sarplander_Standard.png]] '|link=http://tale-of-zul.wikia.com/wiki/File:Stone_Banner.png]] '|link=http://tale-of-zul.wikia.com/wiki/File:Telfish_Tricolor.png]] The Storming of Watercrown: Aye the Queen surrounded the Great Emperor of the Water Malk I of Clan Yul at his family's seat of ''Corr-Simsis (literally "Lion-Tail"). He, and his forces had entered Liontail in the hopes of using its as their base against Aye the Queen. The Queen decided that there was no point in taking the fortress, and instead decided to let Malk starve. She then left to take the more important, but less well-defended Watercrown Palace, leading a vanguard of her kingdom's elite soldiers to take it. They poisoned Liontail's moat with blachumor, and used it to explode the underground escape routes of the fortress. Aye's sister, Naya, stayed behind, masquerading as the Queen herself. The Imperial Water Army was made of stronger stuff than the Stone, and Trees, however, and suffered through starvation for weeks. All the while, Aye the Queen arrived at Watercrown with Jayma, Mailan, Raymeij, Yuija, Eya, Yukos, Thronos, 3rd Branchers Ulk, and Folk, and Stone Soldier Moklalk. The group approached the Imperial Palace from the Great Bridge of the Far West, climbing up to it, and beginning the crossing at [[Galmalk's Sangahalk|Galmalk's Sangahalk]]. To Aye, the Great Spyres of Watercrown were nothing compared to the redwood Laochalk of Thousandtrees. Although Aye was not familiar with the layout of the Palace, she realized that all that needed to be done was scale the spyres before anyone realized it, and regroup at the bridge after killing as many people as possible. Attacking the guards at the end of the bridge head-on, they were able to stop anyone from warning those inside. The attack was at night, so no one took notice of the dead guards before it was too late. The spyres were each infiltrated: Aye, Jayma, and Thronos took the Green Spyre, Mailan, Raymeij, and Eya took the Red Spyre, Yuija, and Yukos took the White Spyre, while Ulk, Folk, and Molklalk took the Black Spyre. Aye, Jayma, and Thronos were able to kill several instrumental members of Clan Yul, but a few members living on the lower floors of the Palace escaped through its underground tunnels, and were able to buy safe passage to Bredenn Isle. Thronos was killed at the hands of Malk's brother, Hoshok the Strong. His throat was crushed, but Aye was able stab Hoshok in the stomach with her curved talkalk, leaving him for dead. Hoshok, too, was able to escape, and enlisted the help of a local wytch to heal his wounds with sacrificial magicks. Hoshok healed, but was no longer fully human, trading his morality for his life. He became Hoshok the Horrible, going on to become a major threat to Aye in Ires. When news of Hoshok's survival reached Yukos, he swore to avenge his brother. As at Thousandtrees, Imperial Scribes were killed at Watercrown, under the presumption that they were the ones who ruined the near west financially. Mailan came upon a young handsome scribe, and kidnapped him, taking him as her sex slave. The White Spyre, even then, was already mostly empty, so Yuija, and Yukos had no foes to fight but dust. They also freed many of the Imperial Palace's slaves, inciting a riot in the building. The Black Spyre had many of the Palace's soldiers, so before it was scaled, Ulk, Folk, and Molklalk waited for it to clear out, destroying, and taking any remaining weapons, and armor. They killed every soldier they came upon, but eventually, both 3rd Branchers died. Molklalk regrouped with the others at the bridge. In just a few hours, Aye had killed most of Clan Yul, started a slave revolt inside of Watercrown, killed most of the Imperial Water Government, and most of the soldiers living within the Palace. Aye's Army arrived shortly thereafter, taking control of the Palace while she returned to Liontail. Category:Battles Category:Events Category:Military History Category:History